Ruth part 5 An amazing set of circumstances.

28^th October 2018

P.A.Thatcher

The Mustard Seed Evangelical Church.

Series: “The best is yet to come!” {Lessons from the book of Ruth Part 5}

An amazing set of circumstances: Ruth 1:22 – 2:13

Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’

Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’ ‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’ The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’

So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’

Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’ ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

So far we have considered the main characters of the story, and from the meaning of their names we have seen that God has used the characteristics of each of them to amplify the true meaning of the story. The names are man given to each of them but they are in some ways God inspired and help us to understand the story so much better. Boaz is now coming on the scene, his name simply means “swift to act,” and as we shall see that is a perfectly fitting name for him. But, before we go any further we need to see what has been happening to this family in the broader context of what was happening to the people of God, who were the church of the day. What exactly was God doing at the time and how did that affect His people? What were the times really like? These are all vital questions, to which the answers will give us a far better understanding of what was going on and ultimately the implications for the church today. Let us never forget that Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that these things, along with all of the other accounts of the Old Testament, are recorded for our benefit. That means that their experience is vitally important for us today.

Whilst Elimelech and Naomi were making their pragmatic decisions to do what they did, and also as Naomi was deciding to return to Bethlehem, we must never forget that God had not stopped working out His purposes! We are in the privileged position of knowing the end of this story, but the characters did not. We are in a similar position today in that we do not know what God is doing behind the scenes. We are living our lives, just as Naomi was, we are making our decisions just as she was and we are following our instincts just as she did when she decided to return home. It was only later that she learned something of the bigger picture of God's purposes being worked out through her sad experiences. But this is not the full story, there was an even bigger plan being worked out in the nation. On top of that the whole episode is simply another building block in the building of the church which one day will occupy heaven.

It is often said that the flap of a butterfly's wings if in harmony with millions of others could cause a hurricane. I am not sure of the possibility of such things but I do know that small vents in the plans and purposes of God have massive eternal consequences. It is often the circumstances that God's people find themselves in that are the driving force or guidance to decisions of great significance, being made.

Let us consider the circumstances that brought Naomi to decide to return home. They were all coincidences, or as some would say “God's incidences!”

• They were in Moab, a foreign land to Naomi.
• The famine was over in Israel.
• Naomi was missing her people.
• They arrived home at the time of the barley harvest.
• Boaz was returning from a business trip at the same time. He just happened to be the only person that could and was willing to do something about the situation.
• Ruth finds herself gleaning in Boaz's field.

Through all of these coincidences (and others) God is working out His purposes. As we know today, He was fully in control! That is a lesson for us today. God is in control of your personal circumstances, He is using you and me, through and despite our own decisions. He is also continuing to build His church through us! Therefore we ought to learn from this account, how important each of the decisions we make, both individually and corporately as the church, are!

When we consider what God was doing in the family, we see them being blessed through Boaz, where Naomi's sons had failed due to their death! But the picture is of course so much bigger. There were great implications for the nation also. The line of the king was being protected, and it was being developed. In the line of David was great, great grandparents called Ruth and Boaz. But there is even greater significance in that the kingly line leads to the King of kings, the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. That brings even more significance for us, the church owes it's very existence to this very event in the time of the Judges. Heaven will be populated because of all that happened in Elimelech's family. That is also true of the events that were happening in Israel at the time.

Remember that Israel had been experiencing famine, which ultimately drove Elimelech and family into Moab. But, now the famine was over, the reason for the famine was the apostasy of the people of God. It was their sin that is the springboard for the blessings that we are observing today. How amazing and full of grace our God is in the way that He brings blessing out of disaster.

Blessing from disaster:

Deuteronomy is a most important book. It's name simply means second law. The background of this is that it is a second record of the law of God as given to Moses but set within the context of what was happening to the children of Israel at the time. It is laced with their history. The reason for this is that the leaders of the people. Eventually the kings were to write it out and keep their copy as their manual for life and leadership. Possibly the most important theme contained within is God's promise of blessing for obedience and His curse for disobedience. The blessings were always for a good harvest and safety. The curses were the promise of failed crops and invasion from foreign countries.

The story of Ruth is set in the time of famine, but God has remembered His people. This is the glorious promise of grace that God gives throughout Deuteronomy. If the people would humble themselves and repent then God promised to restore the harvest and once again protect them from external attack.. That was clearly what had happened during Naomi's time in Moab. Blessing had been restored.

All of the time that Naomi was in Moab, and Israel was under judgement, God was working out His purposes in ways that none really understood. Why did Elimelech die, what about Mahlon and Kilion? Through he human pain and grief involved, God had a purpose. That does not make it any less sad, but the outcome is glorious!

It is the same for us today. God has a purpose for you and I individually. If you live your life according to His will and purpose you will be blessed. The New Covenant blessing is nothing to do with abundance of things but all to do with a blessed life, a life of contentment and peace with God, whatever befalls us. There is also the corporate life that we belong to. God has set us in a community of His people. That is the local church! We, who call ourselves the Mustard Seed, are the local church, and as such we have responsibilities. Our responsibility as we will discover, if we read through Deuteronomy, is to obey God in all aspects of our life. When we do this then we will be blessed of Him.

I have been told that the church here cannot be blessed for all sorts of reasons. The story of Ruth, disputes that rationale! Let us for the last few moments draw this to a conclusion.

Where God's people are there is blessing:

For a moment consider Ruth, she had found a Godly family, she had entered into a Godly relationship with Naomi. Through this she had become a believer in God and was about to enter into a new nation. Ruth was converted and was joining the people of God. Consider what her thoughts would have been, she was gleaning as much knowledge about the faith from her mother in law whilst journeying to Bethlehem. She was excited by her God and His people and with great anticipation was coming to the church! What great blessing it is to have new converts amongst the people of God. Alongside Ruth the whole company of heaven was rejoicing over that one sinner who had repented.

Now consider Naomi, the pleasant one, could not enter into the joy of the Lord because her eyes were elsewhere. She was looking down at her own worries and concerns. She was not interested in the blessing that was hers in the bringing of Ruth into fellowship with God and His people. All that she could say was it was so much better before. I was full and now I am empty!

The church can be so full of Naomi theology that it does not see the blessing that we are really experiencing! More of this in a moment.

But then there are the people of God, they were experiencing their own blessing. The barley harvest had begun, this would be followed by the day of atonement and the passover celebrations and finally the feast of weeks or Pentecost as it later became. All of these were the ongoing evidence that God was blessing His people once again. They were about to receive an new convert, who would come and make a difference to the whole community. Ruth would bring them the challenge to accept her, even though she was foreign to them. She was now one of them, with all of her foibles that would undoubtedly raise eyebrows at times. They it seems welcomed her with open arms.

God was blessing them in the obvious ways but the effects were reaching into the whole of eternity. In reality the barley harvest was the least of all blessings. You see just as the barley harvest signified the greater harvest to come, so it was with the return of Naomi. The best was yet to come. The day of atonement was to find true significance and the passover accomplished in the descendant of Ruth, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The final harvester which is the Holy Spirit would later come and empower the church to bring in souls for salvation. All in all great blessing is promised in and through these simple beginnings. It is exactly the same with the local church, we belong to a much bigger people. Which is the church universal. That is all throughout history who are born again of the Spirit of God. As such we are all vital cogs in the machinery known as the church. Our Mustard Seed is vitally important in the growth of the church worldwide.

How can I say such a thing? Let me give you some examples.

• I was speaking to a pastor a couple of weeks ago, he was telling me that it was in the Mustard Seed that he was converted. He now serves the local church elsewhere but is a son of ours. I have met at least two other pastors who are serving churches that were converted here. There are serving Christians throughout the world whose gospel influence is the Mustard Seed. The Naomi mindset says that there is no blessing for us, but that is wrong. Kaushik Das in India has been blessed through our ministry. Let me tell you of what he said to me this week: “I along with our church were praying for your ministry last Sunday. We prayed that you and the church would be mightily blessed.” Now consider what happened last Sunday morning. We had a lovely service and with many visitors with their children. All of them spoke of the great blessing that they had received. Others of our regular congregation spoke of how the Lord had blessed and encouraged them as we worshipped and heard the word of God explained. Many went away blessed. But, I after hearing one or two criticisms went away in Naomi mode. I was downcast and ready to go, fed up and seeing no blessing. Others felt the same, I am sure, but we were not seeing what God is doing amongst us. We must repent of such self pity which can only cripple the church. Let us be like Ruth in our theology and rejoice in the blessing that is ours!
• Look at what is ahead, Ruth was eagerly meeting with God's people but yet Naomi was dreading it. She was about to present this new convert to the church but it was with a downcast heart. Let us for a moment consider our situation. Next week we have the great privilege of dedicating Ayla to the Lord for His covenant blessing on her life. Tristan and Becci will be bringing along friends and family to witness this wonderful service. We will have many in our service that do not know the Lord Jesus, will we accept them? Welcome them? Make them want to join with us? Will they leave wanting to know our Saviour because we have impressed upon them that it is a joy to belong to Him and His church? That is how Ruth felt in Bethlehem, and that is how all that enter the church of Jesus Christ should feel. Sadly there is more of the Naomi to our expectations than there is of the Ruth! Let's put that right.
• Just as circumstance brought Ruth to Bethlehem, so it has brought all of us to where we are today. That means that just as Ruth was expected to enter fully into Hebrew life, then so are we expected to enter fully into church life. That means that we all have our individual gifts that we must bring to the church. For Ruth it was going to be motherhood. Just imagine what would have happened if she had said that she wanted to do her own thing! That Boaz was not good enough for her. Where would that have put the plans of God? But that is just what we do as the church, we do not give our gift as we ought. But there is also another side to this, Ruth was accepted by all in Bethlehem. She was allowed and encouraged to bring and to use her gift. They were accommodating of her. That is something that we must learn from, newcomers must be allowed to enter into the whole of the fellowship and to use their God given gifts in whatever areas of the church that is necessary.
• The results of Naomi returning were far reaching and so is our ministry today. I was called of God to serve here and so I must serve until the day that God calls ma elsewhere, or you reject me. So I am saying that as for me and my house we will serve the Lord here to the very best of our ability. I am going to stop looking over my shoulder to past blessings and see the opportunities that God is affording here and now. I am so excited about what is happening with Operation Christmas Child, we are about to affect the lives of a number of children and their parents through the gifts sent. Then we will be enabling bible teachers to teach them the gospel. That we believe will result in some being converted and becoming vital witnesses for Jesus. That is the harvest that I am committed to. Of course there are other works that we are involved with, either corporately or individually. When the gospel is presented then there is salvation hope and we rejoice. My role is to equip all of us to be Ruth types who love and serve the Lord with all of our hearts. Let us move forward and stop looking to the past, that has been good but marred by our mistakes, just as was Naomi's experience. We will no doubt make other mistakes but if we maintain a Ruth mindset then they will be forgiveable mistakes because God is surely working out His purposes through us.

Truly, the best is yet to come!